Believing that true worship begins with the full sacrifice of the self, the Churches of Christ encourage members to ..."present your bodies as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God..." In doing so, every act that reflects praise and adoration of God then becomes worship. During the times when the body of Christ or the church comes together the members participate in...
Singing: The Church
enjoys singing as a part of nearly every gathering. Following the first-century pattern, singing is a ca****la. Prayer: The modern Church devotes itself, as the first-century Church did, "to prayer and supplication with thanksgiving..." (Acts 2:42, Philippians 4:6)
The Lord's Supper: The Church partakes weekly of the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine that composed the memorial that Jesus commemorated during His last supper with the Apostles. Bible Study: Just as the first-century Christians devoted themselves to "the Apostles' teaching..."(Acts 2:42) so do the Churches of Christ today. While other authors may be studied in conjunction with the Bible, the primary focus of each study is God's word. What about membership?: The Church recognizes that all men "...sin and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), that the "...wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23), and so the Church encourages all men to turn to God for forgiveness and redemption. Following the commandment of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 the Church focuses its energies in making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe or keep all that Jesus has commanded us. The Church holds that the Lord alone adds to the membership of His Church, those who are being saved (Acts 2:47). In keeping with the first-century model, the Church teaches that repentance and baptism are essential for individual salvation (Acts 2:38) and following the pattern in the first century, baptism is by immersion or burial in water (Romans 6:4). All baptized believers are then equally a part of the body of Christ, the Church. (Ephesians 1:22-23)
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A bit of history......Beginning in the late 18th century, men from different denominations studying independently of one another, began to suggest that it would be possible to restore the original model of the New Testament Church as it is described in scripture, in modern times. To do this they believed it would be necessary to return to the Bible alone and to rediscover there the nature and character of the first-century Church. The groups who today call themselves the Church of Christ have their roots in this "Restoration Movement". These groups hold to the Bible as the inspired word of God (II Timothy 3:16-17) and to the absolute authority of Jesus Christ in all things (Matthew 28:18-20). They turn to the Bible as the only source of guidance and model their practice of faith as nearly as possible after the Church described in the New Testament. The process of restoring the New Testament form and function of Christianity is ongoing.
